NGOs and the Gaza Flotilla - Resource Page

May 08, 2011

International NGOs and the Second Gaza Flotilla: Links to Terror, No Humanitarian Purpose

On May 31, 2010, in violation of international law, six ships attempted to reach Gaza by sea and were intercepted by Israeli security forces. Flotilla passengers met Israeli forces with violence and several caches of weapons were found on board.

Politicized NGOs with connections to terrorist groups are planning a second flotilla to commemorate the 2010 incident.

Major organizers include Turkey-based IHH, a group linked to Al Qaeda and Hamas; IHH is listed by several Western governments as a terrorist entity.

The international community – including the EU and the US – is legally bound by UN Security Council Resolution 1373, which imposes barriers on the movement, organization, and fund-raising activities of terrorist groups.

Flotilla coordinators International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) are known for encouraging their activists to confront Israeli security forces and inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric.

Several EU-and NIF-funded NGOs – including the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions (ICAHD), the Alternative Information Center (AIC), and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) – are organizing and endorsing flotilla efforts.

Organizers are using the pretext of a humanitarian mission to provoke a military confrontation in an already inflamed region.